Knockover bit structure for straight knitting machines



y 1935; I GSGATRlCH 2,007,798

-KNOGKOVER BIT STRUCTURE FOR STRAIGHT KNITTING MACHINES Filed Jan. 7,1953 IN VEN TOR.

q vszzw im ATTORNEY. 7

Patented July 9, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE KNOCKOVER BITSTRUCTURE FOR STRAIGHT KNITTING MACHINES Application January '7,

3 Claims.

This invention relates to straight or full fashioned knitting machines,and more particularly to novel and improved knockover bit structuretherefor.

In various knitting operations, such as the narrowing operation in theproduction of full fashioned hosiery, or during the formation of tuckstitches or transferred stitches for ornamental or other purposes, loopsare lifted by means of transfer points from selected needles andtransferred to other needles, and in the production of run-proof orrun-resist fabrics certain loops are spread or extended by means oftransfer points from certain needles to other needles in the same courseor in succeeding courses. In order to perform either the transferring orthe spreading operation the points descend and enter the grooves ofselected needles to engage the loops thereon, after which the relativemovement of the points and needles away from each other causes the loopsto be held by the points. The points are now shifted with respect to theneedles, usually in a lateral direction, and, through a reverseoperation, transfer or spread the loops, as the case may be, to otherneedles in' the same course or in adjacent courses.

The increased tension on the yarn due to the greater thread lengthrequired for transferred and. spread loops, and the tension exerted bythe fabric take-off means, impose a bending strain on the points holdingthe loops, and the needles to which the loops are transferred or spreadalso have a bending strain imposed thereon by the previously formedloops about the needles. The strain or pull thus exerted on the pointsis in a different direction from the pull exerted on the needles, andthese forces tend to cause misalignment of the points, with the 40needles, particularly at the time of transferring the loops from thepoints onto the needles, so that one or more needles may lose the loops,resulting in the formation of drop stitches and irregularities in thefabric. Also, misalignment of the points and needles may cause the yarnor thread to be split by the needles, so that some of the filaments ofthe yarn of one or more loops are cast ofl. the needles instead of beingtransferred thereto. This condition may not be noticed during the usualinspection of the fabric, and is liable to cause a dro stitch to developwhen the article is worn an a breaking strain placed upon the fewfilaments that are holding the loops, resulting in a run at this point.

Anobject of my invention is to provide, in a 1933, Serial No. 650,659

full fashioned knitting machine, suitable guide means for preventingmisalignment of the points and needles, particularly at, the time thepoints engage the needles for the purpose of transferring thereto theloops held by the points.

Another object is the provision of suitable guide means of the characterdescribed, without adding additional parts to the machine orcomplicating the sinker head structure, and without changing the form,movement or characteristics of the points and needles, or interfering inany manner with the usual operations of the various parts of the sinkerhead assembly.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel and improvedform of knockover bit which, in addition to performing its usualfunction of catching the loops as they are dropped from the sinkers anddividers and holding the old loops while the new loops are being formedby the movement of the needles, comprises a guide member for the pointsand needles to prevent misalignment thereof relative to each other.

With these and other objects in view, which will become apparent fromthe following detailed description of the illustrative embodiments of myinvention shown in the accompanying drawing, the invention resides inthe features of construction, and arrangement of parts in cooperativerelationship of the present novel element, as hereinafter moreparticularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is an enlarged perspective view of a combined knockover bit andguide member in accordance with the invention;

Figs. 2 and 3 are views of associated needles, points and novelknockover bit members in different operating positions in a fullfashioned stocking'knitting machine;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary view partly in section, looking in thedirection of the arrows 44 in Fig. 5;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged view, partly in section, taken on the line 5-5 ofFig. 3;

Fig. 6 shows a modified form of a combined knockover bit and guidemember.

Referring particularly to Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawing, there is shownone each of a series of needles 6, transfer points I, sinkers anddividers 8, and the novel knockover bit members 9. The needles aremounted in the needle bar In which is given the necessary vertical andhorizontal movements by the usual needle bar actuating mechanism; andthe points are held in a point bar supported by the narrowing machinewhich, durgives the necessary vertical movements to the points in timerelation with the movements of the needles in a manner well known in theart. Only those parts of the knitting machine necessary for anunderstanding of the invention are shown in the drawing; the variousother parts and mechanisms and their manner of operation are well knownin theart, and are shown and described in detail in the Reading FullFashioned Knitting Machine catalog (copyrighted 1929) published by theTextile Machine Works, Reading, Pennsylvania.

The knockover bits 9, movably mounted in a bed I I, function in theusual manner to catch the loops as they are dropped from the noses ofthe sinkers and dividers, and to hold the last knitted loops in positionwhile the needles move downward and pull the newly laid thread throughthe old loops, and, in addition, function as guide means for the needlesand associated points.

Fig. l is an enlarged view of one of the knockover bits 9 removed fromthe sinker head assembly. It will be seen that the nose of the bit has adepending part or surface I3 formed integral therewith, the contour ofthe conventional knockover bit heretofore employed in full fashionedknitting machines being indicated by the dot and dash line which definesthe upper boundary of the part I3.

The depending part I3 functions as a guide and support means for thepoints and needles in the manner illustrated in Figs. 2 to 5. Fig. 2shows a point I which, in its cycle of operation, has descended into theknockover bits for the purpose .of transferring a loop e thereon to theneedle 6, the needle also having a previously formed loop I thereon;Fig. 3 illustrates the respective positions of the point, needle andknockover bit at the time of engagement of the point in the groove ofthe needle during the opera.-

tion of transferring the loop from the point onto the needle. Therespective pulls exerted by loops e and f tend to cause misalignment ofthe points and the needles relative to each other and thereby preventthe proper registration of the points with the grooves of the needles,resulting in dropped stitches or other irregularities in the fabrichereinbefore mentioned. This tendency is counteracted and misalignmentprevented by the action of the depending portions I3 of the knockoverbits in a manner diagrammatically shown in Figs. 4 and 5.

Referring to Fig. 4, in which the widths of the knockover bits, pointsand needles are exaggerated more clearly to illustrate the coactiontherebetween, it will be seen that the depending parts I3 of theknockover bits substantially engage the needles at the widest part 12adjacent the eye, or grooved portion of each needle immediately prior toand during engagement of the points I with the needles. The needles arein their lowermost position at the time the same are engaged by thepoints for the purpose of transferring loops from the points to theneedles, and in this position the part b of greatest width of eachneedle is opposite, and is substantially in engagement with the adjacentsurfaces of, the parts I3 of the knockover bits on either side of theneedle, whereby the needle is supporting the loop spreading ortransferring operation,

ferring the loop onto the needles, and thus misalignment of the pointand needle relative to each other is prevented. This is true of all ofthe needles and knockover bits in each sinker head assembly, the seriesof knockover bits and needles collectively and mutually coacting to formsubstantially rigid guide means for the needles and points. Theforegoing arrangement does not in any manner complicate the sinker headstructure, or interfere with the movements of the points and needles orother elements of the sinker head assembly in performing their knittingoperations.

In contrast to the knockover bit above described, the usual knockoverbit of the type used in straight or full fashioned stocking knittingmachines will permit objectionable side play of the needles when thelatter are in the position shown in Figs. 2 to 5. This is so because,although the upper edges of the usual knockover bits are positioned asshown in the drawing, the lower edges of the nose portions of the bitsdo not extend sufficiently low to substantially contact with the wideparts I) of the needles to provide suitable guide means therefor,whereas, the guide part I 3 of the knockover bit of the invention eithercontacts with the needles or is spaced sufficiently close thereto tomaintain suitable alignment thereof. It will be understood that theneedles which are in proper alignment may not actually contact with theguide parts I3, but that the clearance between the needles and parts I3is reduced to an extent such that if any needles are out of alignmentthey will engage the surfaces I3 and be guided into alignment with thepoints.

My invention also provides guide means to insure that the needles intheir rising movement will pass between the proper sinkers and dividers,and this advantage obtains in knitting any type of fabric whethercomposed of plain chain stitches or special stitches; if one or moreneedles are out of alignment, the depending portions I3 will contactwith such needles prior to and during their entrance between the sinkersand dividers to guide the needles into their proper paths of travel.

A modified form of the invention is shown in Fig. 6, in which thedepending guide part is of greater thickness than the body of theknockover bit, thereby to provide raised guide surfaces I3a. Thismodification is particularly adapted for use with needles having a widthatb which would give too much clearance between the needles andknockover bits of usual thickness to give the desired accurate alignmentof the needles. In the modified form shown, the thickness of the guideportion a may be made such as to coact with needles of any gauge or formto provide suitable guide means therefor.

In the form of knockover bit illustrated, which is adapted for use inthe Reading" full fashioned stocking knitting machine, the overall widthof the'nose of the bit is approximately 0.275 of an inch, and the widtha of the guide portion is approximately 0.139 of an inch, which issubstantially the overall width of the usual knockover bit nose (thewidth of which ranges from 0.136" to 0.166") so that the overall widthof the nose of the bit 9 is approximately twice the width of the nose ofthe conventional knockover bit, although it will be understood that the.width of the added guide portion I3 may vary within relatively widelimits depending upon the overall width of the usual knockover bit used,the type of needles employed, and other factors. It will also beunderstood that the thickness of the knockover bit, 76

of the guide portion l3, of either of the above forms will varydepending upon the type and gauge of the machine and the type of needlesemployed.

For brevity in the specification and claims, the terms poin and transferpoints are used to designate any form of point or equivalent member forengaging the needles to produce fabrics comprising loops formed by thecoaction between the points and needles, and the term knockover bitincludes fixed and movable webholders or equivalent knocking overmembers positioned between the needles, and adapted to coact therewithto obtain substantially the advantages of the invention.

- Of course, the improvements specifically shown and described, by whichI obtain the above results, can be changed and modified in various wayswithout departing from the scope of the invention herein disclosed andhereinafter claimed.

I claim: k

1. A straight knitting machine comprising means for operation during thecoaction between the needles and transfer points in a. loop-formingoperation to prevent coursewise bending of the needles by lateral pullof the yarn on the needles incident to the formation of spread andtransferred stitches, said means including extensions of the knockoverbits adapted to embrace and substantially contact the needles over alength thereof when in loop-forming transfer position sufiicient toprevent said bending.

2. In a straight knitting machine provided with mechanism for formingloops other than plain loops comprising, in combination, a series ofspring beard needles, loopengaging points and knockover bits operativelyassociated with said needles, said knockover bits being of uniformthickness throughout and each having downwardly extending guide portionsin the operative plane thereof relative to said needles and loopengaging points during the loop transferring operation, said guideportions having suflicient downward extent to embrace and substantiallycontact a. length of the needles to prevent coursewise bending of theneedles whenever they are within the knockover bit structure inloop-forming transfer position.

3. ma straight knitting machine, mechanism for forming loops other thanplain loops comprising, in combination, a series of spring beardneedles, loop engaging points and knockover bits operatively associatedwith said needles, said knockover bits being of uniform thicknessthroughout and each having downwardly extending guide portions in theoperative plane thereof relative to said needles and loop engagingpoints during the loop transferring operation, said guide portionshaving sufficient downward extent to embrace the needles at their pointof greatest diameter, whereby to prevent coursewise bending of theneedles whenever they are within the knockover bit structure inloop-forming transfer position.

I GUSTAV GAS'I'RICH.

